Mathematician Research Paper

Mathematician Research Paper Objective: The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint students with the history of a famous mathematician and discover his/her contributions to modern mathematics. It is important to focus on the networks of communications that were developed between many of these people. The student should examine the background and living conditions of the mathematician. The student should examine what drove these scholars and other interests they may have had. The student should also explore the most outstanding aspects of the person researched. The student is to not explore mathematical ideas that they do not understand. The student should make note of the time period in which the mathematician made their contributions, and what else was happening from a historical vantage point. Requirements: • Write a minimum of a 3 page paper (excluding the title page and bibliography) on a famous mathematician (listed below). • The title page must include the following elements:  Name of the mathematician  Picture of the mathematician (if available)  Dates of birth and death of the mathematician  Your name and class  Date the paper is due • The report must include the following information:  Dates of birth and death of the mathematician  Places of birth and death  Living conditions as a child/family life  Educational background  Additional biographical information where applicable  Most significant contribution(s) to the field of mathematics  Relevance of contribution(s) to mathematics today Format: The paper is to be a minimum of 3 pages of content that is double-spaced with a 12-point Arial font. It will also have a cover page with the specifications listed above. In addition to the content pages and the cover page, it will also have a bibliography page. All quotes and information must be cited accurately and correctly. Merely listing sources in a bibliography page is unacceptable. Failure to do so will result in a deduction of points as outlined in the rubric. At least 3 different sources are to be used. At least two of these sources are to be sources other than the Internet. The library has several reference books available, and other sources are available. The textbook will not serve as one of the sources. APA style formatting is expected to be used. Grading: • Content • Significant contributions • Relevance of contribution • Sources • Structure • Cover Page • Punctuation • Grammar/Spelling - 4 points • Originality 4 points • Submitted on time - 2 points

Mathematician Selection: If there is a mathematician you wish to research that is not on the list, please ask me about it first before you begin.

Possible Sources: http://www.sci.hkbu.edu.hk/scilab/math/math.html http://groups.csail.mit.edu/medg/people/doyle/gallery/mathematicians/ http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/RBallHist.html http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm http://fabpedigree.com/james/mathmen.htm http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/BiogIndex.html APA Style Formatting: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Mathematician Paper Checklist . . . Do you have/Did you do?  Title page.  Minimum of 3 pages of actual content.  A bibliography page following correct methodologies.  12-point font.  Arial font.  Double-spaced.  Correct spelling.  Accurate mathematical content.  All sources cited with appropriate documentation  No use of contractions.  No use of the impersonal you or your.  The paper should represent college level writing and thinking.  Any evidence of plagiarism will result in an automatic zero for the exercise. (Note: there are Internet sources that can be used to check for Internet plagiarism and are used by the faculty).  Use of the Internet for research needs to be done carefully and correctly. Many Internet sources are not considered “scholarly” sources.